Thoughts for the week! Paint Party Friday

Thoughts for the week!

 I have so much art in progress but both digital and painting but I found this full post in my drafts and thought I'd share it since this week has flown by!  I'm curious to know if anyone has read the book "David and Goliath" by Malcolm Gladwell?

 Years ago a friends step daughter was struggling with science. My friend suggested she befriend  someone who gets high marks! I found her advice quite foreign. My mind doesn't even work that way. I'd have suggested a tutor, help from the teacher rather than soliciting a friend to do their work.  In fact that statement always bothered me.   Probably because I never understood that train of thought until this week!

While promoting his book David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell mentioned how a third of the highly successful entrepreneurs are often dyslexic. Learning vital qualities for entrepreneurial success early in life......grade one, befriending the smartest kid, learning to delegate and negotiate early, having people  do their work for them. Skills they nurture compensate for their condition, sometimes leading to a life of extraordinary accomplishment. I'm now  feeling less ambiguous about my friends response twenty years ago. Maybe that's was how she coped too! 

I find it fascinating to be able to change my mind and perspective no matter how old I am. It certainly pays to be open minded! I look forward to eventually reading David and Goliath!

How about you, have you come to a realization, changed perspectives   or found answers  years after the fact?

Hypocrisy alert!

Not everything is easy to accept!

 Incandescence

I knew you over fifty years 

I loved what you had to share

We turned you off  automatically

or parents would stop and glare

You worked perfectly for decades

We dimmed you, to fool around

Didn't have to replace you very often

or call hazmat if you fell to the ground

They say the new ones are more efficient

in the end there will be  less to pay

Sadly incandescent they've banned you 

The dreaded  ugly CFL's are here to stay

I'm not as comfortable with them
  they don't last as long as first implied

The CFL  bulbs are so expensive

I  fear the powers that be, may have lied

Now I have to drive dead bulbs 

where things with mercury go

I hope they're being recycled

But we'll never really know

When we see new creatures

sporting five heads and sixteen toes

ears like califlower, 

one eye upon their nose

We'll know for sure they've fibbed

you should have never been laid to rest

because anything  without mercury

really would have served us best!

RIP Incandescent..... 

so glad I have a few of you left!
Even if it's not politically correct
I don't mind paying for the luxury
of a bulb without mercury! 

However I reserve the right to change my mind!!

 This is my contribution for Paint Party Friday!

So grateful while living in Chaos

 
I had my paints out to finish a few  canvases, Bryan bought wood for a window seat he's been itching to build when  we get the call the guys coming in three days to lay hardwood in the family room, kitchen eating area. 

Oh man, with Bryan working full time  it was a huge struggle  to move furniture putting felt on each piece not to scratch our  living room floor,  pull the carpets, the moldings and part of the lino in three days. But the man, marvel that he is, did it!  With   ibprophen as his best friend, taking the edge off joint pain. 

Every  morning   I forget we have no family room or T.V. hooked up downstairs.  I miss my cozy space where I plop myself down to eat my bowl of multigrain cheerios with that first scrumptious cup of roasted ground beans! 

On a good note,    I am incredibly grateful for  the   wonderful sectional brownie pan I received from my dear blog friend, scrabble partner Queensize funny bone....what a doll, I had no idea it was coming and cried with delight when I opened it. Unfortunately with all the dust blowing around in the kitchen we haven't been able to bake any yet! I have a feeling it will be very soon though! I'll post a photo a soon as Pepper does, she wants to Christen it!

I also received a parcel from my blog friend Keith  in England. He sent me copy of the antics he wrote about his friend Rosy, along with my new favorite mug sporting  the illustration I created of her.  It's a pretty quick read although I've only had time for half of it, I couldn't stop smiling   with every chapter. Rosey is such a hilarious fun character, I have to choose my words carefully  because she reads my blog. But this young woman see's the world through some what naive eyes which makes her so  endearing!  She reminds me of a character from my favorite  English Carry On gang in the seventies!  It's been a glorious week of unexpected welcome surprises, yet my house is a haberdashery of chaos! Now there's a word for ya!

Sunday Scribblings "The book that changed everything"

 Sunday Scribblings this week asks for a book that changed everything

I wrote my deepest thoughts on paper. Purging sadness to the page, knowing it would never be read. My angst, the angry outburst, his critical demeanor and grumpy ways sat before me in ink.  Injustices sprawled on paper threaded together word by word. A morning ritual spawned from reading the Artists Way. Page after page placed daily in sealed envelopes, hidden between books in my library. A place I knew he'd never go.

Summer came, the ritual stopped. A year went by. I revisited the pages, carefully peeling open the envelopes. Nothing had changed, my sadness deeper than ever, my loneliness overwhelming living with a mean stranger of twenty one years. I wanted out.

My soul was dying, things were getting uglier. It would take a year to figure out the logistics. If only it would have been easy and amicable. In the end it was hard, ugly, unpredictable and messy. On my own the loneliness lifted, peace was acquired; creative abundance flowed in, followed by a solace never felt. Now I surround myself with loving energy, kind creative loving people, and beauty

  “The Artist Way” by Julia Cameron encourages you to write morning pages eradicating the daily minutia that plagues creativity.You never know what may be discovered.

 

Face it two

Revised Digital piece I did for a mug that my daughter wanted

Brothers Birthday and Violettes Book

Happy Birthday little brother, you are so loved!

Today was my Brothers birthday, my computer was so slow that I'm late posting. However we had a wonderful dinner out with family to celebrate! His son laughed so hard when he saw the cartoon painting I did of him. Here is the card and character I am developing centered around his quirky personality. Oh yes oddness is in the genes. Each time we're together there are even more antics that transpire into giggling fits!

This is also a special day for my friend Violette who's first book Journal Bliss is launched today! A culmination of her love of art journaling while inspiring others to find their own Bliss! Violette is as vibrant as the color she amasses on the page. She's also fully responsible for requisitioning my dormant creative spirit five years ago!

Check out Violette's blog for the list of those on her blog tour! I'll be included in the blog tour come June first. I can never really express how grateful I am to Violette for encouraging me to unleash my inner goddess, and find my true artist within! Congratulations on putting your precious spirit on paper, best wishes for a successful run!

Book Launch

I attended a book launch at Kids books in Vancouver on Thursday night, the two authors on the right, Shelley Hrdlitschka and Kim Denman, were in a writers group I attended for several years. In the middle the Orca author editor, Sarah Harvey , left are Meg Tilly, and Robin Stevenson.
It was long ago predicted Shelley would succeed as an author. While everyone was scattered and stuck on the construction of a query letter, Shelley plugged along, page by page. Solving each problem with, (as I have said before) tenacity.
My friend Gypsy goddess has written many yet to be published books. Beside her Kim Denman a poignant writer with five published novels in the young adult genre. Promoting her latest novel, Spiral.

Meg was first to share parts of her book. Shrills of goosebumps ran down my body, as her terrific acting skills inflected into her reading. Savvy with how kids speak Meg tackles the turmoil of a young woman in her latest novel " First Time."

With excitement Shelley acknowledged our presence as her old writing group dating back fifteen years, before explaining how her latest launch " Sister Wife" came to be.

Shelley was forthright with her struggles to conclude " Sister Wife." Letting it rest while she completed "Gotcha." It's always interesting to hear the complexities of how each novel is created.

Caught up in the emotion of Kim's read I embarrassingly clapped before she completed reading. I really enjoyed the varied style of each author, along with the only seat in the the house! Which my knee was grateful for. I picked up two of Shelley's older novels having already bought her newest! On the way to the car I took some photos of the store fronts on Broadway which I'll share next week.